Installing Sound Damping in a Cargo Van

Cargo vans can be quite loud compared to normal vehicle, so we added sound damping. Some people go all out on this step, but we kept it simple and only added sound damping to the rear wheel wells. Sound damping the wheel wells is a great project to start out on because it is quick and easy! The trickier part is choosing what material to use for sound damping. If you are interested in suggestions for other areas to add sound damping, skip down to the “Improvements” section.

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Contents

Materials & Tools
How To
Improvements

Materials

Peel and Seal

Tools

Scissors

Roller

Denatured Alcohol

Rag

Time

1 hour

Cost

$29.65

peel-and-seal
rigid-roller
denatured-alcohol

How To

As there really isn’t much to say, we’ll keep the instructions brief and mainly demonstrate through photos.

Sound Damping Wheel Well of Van

Layer 1 of Peel and Seal

Here are a couple of tips:

  • clean the wheel well by wiping it with denatured alcohol
  • starting from the base of the wheel well and working your way up,1 measure and cut the Peel and Seal (sound damping material) to fit the area you are trying to cover
  • using the roller,2 roll the Peel and Seal onto the wheel well
    • be sure to press into the the grooves of the wheel well as well
  • if you accidentally touch an area that you are going to apply Peel and Seal to, make sure to wipe the area again with denatured alcohol
  • repeat these steps until the wheel well is completely covered, making sure to have a little overlap between layers
Sound Damping Wheel Well of Van

Layer 2

Sound Damping Wheel Well of Van

Layer 3

Order? 1

Layering from bottom to top will minimize the amount of moisture that gets in. Layering in this way will also minimize the amount of damage that you can accidentally do when bumping items against the sound damping material because the edges will be hidden behind water jugs.

Small Roller? 2

A smaller roller will make it easier to get the sound damping materials pressed between grooves in the wheel well. Avoid pressing too hard because this may lead to cutting into the material.

Finished!

Improvements

Less-so improvements and more-so suggestions for other places you can add sound damping. We chose to only add sound damping to the wheel wells because this is one of the most noisy areas of the van. To some degree, thermal insulation also acts as a sound dampener, so we opted for not adding sound damping elsewhere. Having driven on the road for a while, we have come to notice that the van has new noises everyday from panels creaking, things raddling, etc. Once you add snow tires, it gets even louder. So, you may want to consider also adding sound damping material to the walls, ceiling, and driving area of the van.